A sonographer training school in Florida has decided to end a controversial policy in which students would undergo transvaginal ultrasound scans as part of their education.
In a May 26 announcement, Valencia College President Sandy Shugart, PhD, said the institution had decided to "permanently discontinue the use of student volunteers for transvaginal ultrasound scanning." The college's sonographer program will use simulators instead of student volunteers.
Valencia College made headlines earlier this month after two former students filed suit against the college, claiming that it retaliated against them after they protested having to undergo the transvaginal exams. While the college said that the procedures were voluntary, in actuality students were browbeaten into consenting to the probes and were threatened with retaliation if they didn't, according to the complaint filed in the case.
The plaintiffs claimed that they complained about the practice to multiple administrators, faculty, and staff at Valencia College, to no avail. They eventually resigned from the program.
In the May 26 statement, Shugart cited the voluntary nature of the transvaginal program, and noted that the college suspended the practice last summer and commissioned a review by an independent third-party expert. The expert "verified" that the program was administered "safely, professionally, and respectfully," Shugart said in the statement.
However, the college has now decided to permanently discontinue the use of student volunteers for transvaginal ultrasound scanning and instead use the simulators.
